Les Salades Composées

George's Garden Mesclun Greens

The best salad is not complicated but made with the freshest possible greens and garnishes. Les Salades composées or mixed green salad can be made from an infinite list; the only consideration is freshness. But you say you bought it fresh. Just because you purchased from the fresh bin at the market does not guarantee the pick date. Consider the source and how far that head of lettuce traveled.

George's Garden Sweet Nectar Yellow Grape Tomatoes

Substitute ingredients at will when shopping or picking fresh.

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George's Garden Snap "Sugar Daddy" Peas

My dad was a Master Gardener, and fresh veggies were always steps away. Here’s the inspiration for a salad I prepared today and served from my garden to plate in under 5 minutes.

Chef George's Salad Simples

Salade Simple

Sugar Snap Peas, steam for 30 seconds, shock in cold water

Mixed Mesclun Greens

Arugula

Red Kale

Sweet and Neat Cherry Tomatoes

Juice 1/2 lemon

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

pinch sea salt + a few sprigs of fresh mint leaves

Add lemon juice, olive oil, mint, and salt in a bowl. Mix well. Add all ingredients, toss, and serve immediately.

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George Hirsch Lifestyle Creamy Custard Dessert

A tribute to a mix of green herbs, specifically parsley and chives. Prior to the popularity of ranch dressing, Green Goddess was the queen of dressings, gracing salads worldwide.

Let me get this out of the way first; Seven Seas did not create the original Green Goddess Dressing. Its earliest roots stem from a classical French cooking cold sauce (dressing) called Sauce Au Vert, created for Louis XIII of France circa 1640. That's just around the time of the legendary Chef Vatel (more on him next week). This cold sauce gained popularity in the 1920s with the help of a theater production named The Green Goddess, which ran in San Francisco.

All cold sauces are created equal, with just a few adjustments in the ingredients. For example, if you think Thousand Island Dressing with a reduction of a few condiments and adding a larger quantity of freshly washed herbs, such as chives, tarragon, chervil, or parsley - you’ve got Green Goddess!

The herbs should be chopped fine and squeezed dry in a cheesecloth or clean kitchen towel; while reserving the juice exiting from the herbs to color and, more importantly, flavor the cold sauce. Or, chop in a food processor and add all the chopped herbs and juice to the dressing. The herbs are then added to the base sauce. Viola!

Green Goddess, aka. Sauce Au Vert

Mix, 1 cup olive oil mayonnaise, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 1/2 cup sour cream, 3 pureed anchovy fillets, 4 cloves Caramelized Garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest, juice of half a lemon, dash of hot sauce, and fresh ground black pepper. Add 1/4 cup each finely chopped chives and parsley, with squeezed juice, into the dressing.